Club member Breeders are listed here on this page. For additional Breeders around the country, please go to LINKS and click on other Bull Terrier Clubs, especially the Bull Terrier Club of America site which has a Breeder Directory list by state.

The Bull Terrier Club of Dallas, as part of its mission, exists “To encourage and promote the quality breeding of pure-bred Bull Terriers and to do all possible to bring their natural qualities to perfection.” Throughout its 40 plus year history the BTCD has maintained a tightly-knit breeder group and over the years has adopted a set of “best practices” pursuant to the betterment of the breed.

Some of the tenets below were established by the Bull Terrier Club of America. This content is reprinted with permission and attribution is provided where necessary. We believe these guidelines are especially useful to Bull Terrier Breeders and enthusiasts of all breeds.

Choose your breeding stock carefully: A Bull Terrier which is acquired with future breeding in mind should be selected for qualities of conformation and temperament which will produce top quality puppies. The responsibilities of breeding a litter of Bull Terriers must be assumed by the owner of the dam and it is very important that they pay particular attention to conformation and temperament when planning a litter. The breeding of purebred dogs is not an exact science. It is not always possible to prevent the occurrence of inherited diseases, as there are not yet definitive tests to identify carriers of genetic diseases in our breed. A breeder’s obligation with regard to genetic diseases is to make every effort to prevent their occurrence and to share openly and honestly all information available regarding the genetic health status of his/her dogs. While elimination of genetic diseases is a worthy goal, the converse is that excessive culling of animals from the gene pool may have the equally deleterious effect of limiting the gene pool in the breed. Breeders should be cautious about removing animals from the breeding pool solely because they are distantly related to an affected individual. Breeders should be able to provide written proof (signed by a veterinarian) that their breeding stock has been checked for hearing, heart, kidney, and patella related issues. These tests are called BAER (hearing) test, auscultation (heart) and/or Doppler Echocardiogram (heart), UPC (urine protein creatinine ratio * kidney), and palpation for checking patella luxation.

Please Note: auscultation and doppler tests must be performed by a Board Certified Veterinary Cardiologist or Internist.

Beware of breeders who claim *DNA profiled* or *DNA screened* in their ads. A DNA profile is required by AKC only for identification purposes. As yet, there are no profiles or screens which assure the absence of genetic disease associated with a DNA profile or screening.

(Reprinted courtesy of the BTCA)

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Membership in a Bull Terrier Club has Benefits:

Finding homes for your puppies: BTCD breeders benefit from the tightly-knit Bully community and place their puppies through "word of mouth." No newspaper advertising.

Shipping Puppies: BTCD Breeders rarely ship puppies and only to parties known to the Breeder beforehand. The Breeder’s Lifelong Relationship with Dogs and Owners: Choose your owners carefully and continuously update your contracts: Breeder/Owner contracts are an increasingly complicated aspect of the pure-bred sport and as litigation of dog- related issues increases, breeders need more protection from court action should something go wrong with the dog through no fault of the breeder. Additionally, to stem the tide of unwanted animals, Breeders should consider contracts that mandate spay/neuter as a requirement before registration is transferred.

Stay in touch with your owners: Make an annual process out of staying current with your dogs, health and temperament records. Track their health issues and any other information the owners provide. Over the years you will see patterns, some you will approve of, some you will want to put an end to.

The Lifelong Nature of an Owner/Breeder Contract: As contracts span the life of the animal, BTCD breeders eagerly accept dogs returned to them when Owners cannot fulfill their end of the bargain. Better for these dogs to return to the Breeder for Re-homing than enter the Shelter system and eventually Rescue.